The smell, that was the first thing he noticed. Not the smell of death necessarily but something certainly akin to it. Musty, one who was unaware of what lay ahead might describe it as. To Draco the smell was putrid. The corridor was dark and dank. Had he not being so terrified he would have observed how cliché this setting seemed for what lay ahead of him.

He glanced at the man beside him and felt both pride and pity. His father's face looked like it had been carved from stone, but his eyes conveyed the sheer panic within.

This was to be his first meeting with the Dark Lord. He had requested Draco's presence and to defy the Dark Lord would have been idiotic to say the least.

Narcissa had pleaded with her husband to try and prevent the meeting but nothing could be done. No-one defied the Dark Lord and lived to tell the tale. It was inevitable…Draco was born to this life and was expected to follow in the footsteps of the 'heroes' who were saving the magical world from the corruption and defilement of our existence.

Two death eaters flanked the door ahead. Draco did not know who they were. Friends of the family, or perhaps belonging to the ranks of many death eaters who he had yet to become acquainted with. He hoped for the former, there were enough he knew of without adding to their numbers.

As he passed the two guards he looked into their eyes. Neither met his gaze…their eyes were blank. Hollow. He wondered if this was his future.

His father knocked on the door. For a second time Draco glanced at his father, his eyes now resembled those of the men they had just passed. Dead, unstaring, hollow.

The door was swiftly opened by a man he knew as wormtail. He had only seen him once before and had deducted within a minute of meeting him that he was a lowly creature, certainly insubordinate to his father.

Draco's eyes stayed on wormtail's form for a mere second before his eye was caught by who, or should he say what, had been plaguing his nightmares since his summons 5 days ago. The human being who he was to call his Master.

Human, he inwardly cringed at the notion. There was nothing remotely human about the figure in front of him. His features were reptilian like, yet he looked like he was carved from stone. Draco wondered at this anomaly to mankind.

Before him was what was revered in his world, all that was right with the world. His own father obviously felt it or he would not follow him so unquestionably. Then he remembered his fathers worried words of assurances that he would be fine, with a glint of panic in his eye, and wondered if he followed him as unquestionably as Draco was led to believe.

The creature in front of him smiled. If one could call it a smile on such a face. His skin seemed to stretch across his cheekbones in an almost painful way, yet you could see there was no pain caused in this action. His eyes were gleaming, the red hue disturbing, but not as much as the manic glint that scared Draco right down to his very core.

"Ah Draco, so we finally meet? It has been long overdue. No worries, we shall make up for lost time" said the Dark Lord.

He inwardly shuddered at not only the veiled promise of certain doom but his own previous desires for this very meeting to take place. What a fool he had been to wish for this.

Draco bowed dutifully as he recited his fathers instructions on how to address their Lord "My Lord I am honoured that you have requested my presence, I cannot begin to communiate what a privledge this is to me"

'Get to the point quickly, don't say too much' his fathers advising words rung in his head.

The man in front of him barked out a laugh that immediately sent chills down Draco's spine. 'Please let this end soon' he begged inwardly.

"I see you've trained the boy well Lucius, respect he shows in abundance, but courage is yet to be seen" laughed the Dark Lord.

"I assure you My Lord that courage is a trait which he holds most exuberantly, he is as committed to your cause as any of my commrades" Lucius stated as he bowed to the floor like a servant.

"We shall see" the Dark Lord mused.

"As it happens, I have a task for young Draco here, courage is not a necessity in this instance, he shall have to prove that in the future" he paused, analysing both father and sons reaction "His constitution for depravities however, shall be most certainly brought forth with in this task" He finished with a smirk.

Draco was terrified.